Cleveland Cavaliers' 10 best trade targets: Chris Fedor

It's Feb. 8, moved up before the All-Star break this season. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, a struggling team with an old roster, it's an important date, the last real chance to add an impact player for their championship quest.

It's also a chance for general manager Koby Altman to rebound, perhaps earn some trust after his busted trade with the Boston Celtics, one that Cleveland has yet to benefit from. Isaiah Thomas is struggling to fit in and Jae Crowder hasn't found comfort in a new system.

The Cavaliers have plenty of problems to fix. The rim protection is lacking. They don't have enough quality point-of-attack defenders. The 3-point shooting has dipped recently. The reigning Eastern Conference champions could argue they need to improve all those areas. But there aren't a wealth of assets to do it.

The roster is littered with a handful of unappealing contracts that will be extremely tough to move. Players who initially appeared to have some value (Jae Crowder and Iman Shumpert) have underachieved. First-round picks have been exhausted over the last three years, used in the championship chase. That leaves the Cavs with either their own first-round pick in 2018 or the fancied Brooklyn Nets pick, the jewel of the Irving trade, to dangle in deals. But they can't use both unless they somehow recoup a 2018 first rounder along the way.

It's fair to wonder how much value -- if any -- rookie Cedi Osman has, the one talented young piece an opposing GM may covet. Channing Frye, Derrick Rose and Thomas possess expiring contracts, which could be intriguing for a team looking to shuffle salary. If the right deal comes, would the Cavs send away All-Star power forward Kevin Love?

There are plenty of rumors surrounding the Cavs. But there are certainly a bunch of obstacles to a deal. These are the best targets:

By Chris Fedor, cleveland.com

Kent Bazemore, shooting guard, Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks have the league's worst record, a team committed to rebuilding through the draft. Despite giving Bazemore a $70 million contract in the summer of 2016 and his growth over the years, he could probably be pried away for the right price.

Bazemore, 28, is the team's second-leading scorer this season, averaging a career-high 12.7 points on 41.5 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from 3-point range, including 26-of-62 (41.9 percent) on corner 3s to go with 42 percent on catch-and-shoot triples -- two pivotal areas for the drive-and-kick Cavs.

Bazemore's best value comes on the defensive end. A lengthy and rugged defender, he ranks seventh among shooting guards in ESPN's Defensive Real Plus-Minus (DRPM). With a 7-foot wingspan, he's 10th in steals, averaging 1.73 per game. The prototypical 3-and-D player, many playoff teams should be eyeing him.

The real question comes down to compensation. The Hawks would likely want either a first-round pick or a young, talented player, if not both. Plus, any deal would have to match in salary and Bazemore makes $16.9 million.

Avery Bradley, shooting guard, Detroit Pistons

The Pistons are 3-12 in their last 15 games, a slide coinciding with point guard Reggie Jackson's ankle injury that is expected to keep him out past the All-Star break. That has led them to exploring a variety of options. Bradley, who was part of the Boston-Detroit swap this past off-season, is set to be a free agent this summer and is available, according to ESPN.

A feisty on-the-ball defender that does his best work in isolation situations, he's been known to bother Kyrie Irving and the Golden State Warriors.

Why would Avery Bradley be a trade target for contenders? No guard has been better at isolation defending this season: pic.twitter.com/tbfWf6zcNE

His overall defensive metrics don't, however, match his reputation. While his defensive rating (107.9) is much better than JR Smith's, it's only middle-of-the-pack at the position. In terms of DRPM Bradley ranks 78th out of 106 shooting guards.

This is the third straight season Bradley's team has been a better defensive team with him on the bench. With him on the court, the rating is 110.0 and the opponent's effective field goal percentage in 54.6. With him off the floor, it improves to 103.4 and a 50.4 effective field goal percentage.

There's also been a decline in his offensive numbers since leaving the friendly Boston system. He's averaging 15.0 points after pouring in 16.3 a season ago. His field goal percentage (40.9) is the worst since his third season and his 3-point percentage has dropped to 38.1. Toss in his injury history, a nagging groin issue that forced him out of the lineup again Sunday, and Bradley may not be worth the "significant asking price" that ESPN is reporting.

But if the Pistons budge, he should be near the top of Cleveland's wish list.

DeMarre Carroll, small forward, Brooklyn Nets

After a few disappointing years in Toronto, failing to live up to his large contract, Carroll has found his comfort zone once again with Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson, rekindling the relationship from Atlanta.

Carroll is averaging 13.0 points on around 40 percent shooting, including 34.1 percent from 3-point range. For surprising Brooklyn, Carroll, once known as a defensive pest, has a defensive rating of 104.8, which would best everyone on the Cavs roster except Shumpert, who has missed all but 14 games.

With Carroll on the floor this season, the Nets are a better defensive team, with opponents possessing an effective field goal percentage of 49.8 and an offensive rating of 107.9. With him off, opponents have an effective field goal percentage of 52.2 and defensive rating of 110.4.

Carroll is owed a little more than $30 million over the next two seasons.

George Hill, point guard, Sacramento Kings

The Cavs have been linked to Hill for the last few weeks. But talks reportedly have stalled. He has the size (a wingspan close to seven feet) and defensive reputation to play in the backcourt alongside diminutive Thomas and perhaps mitigate some of those concerns. Hill is also one of the league's best in pick-and-roll situations -- key to the Cavs' offense. Despite some of his numbers declining in Sacramento and getting yanked from the lineup as the Kings go younger, Hill is shooting a career-best 45.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Even if there's some natural regression, he's a career 38.1 percent 3-point bomber and has hovered above 40 percent three straight seasons.

Still, there are plenty of questions with the 31-year-old combo-guard who is also the Kings' highest-paid player. After ranking 6th among 78 point guards in DRPM last season in Utah and 12th two years ago in Indiana, Hill has plummeted to 83rd out of 98 in that same metric this season.

Is that a product of playing with the Woeful Kings, a team as bad as the Cavs defensively? Is it because the significant toe injury, which may still be lingering, has zapped some of his ability? Is it because he no longer has a legitimate rim protector?

It's tough to know exactly which Hill the Cavs would get on that end of the floor.